Life of a Londoner

Thrifty Thursday - Celebration of my Mumma

So if I haven’t told you already my Mum’s pretty awesome… seriously amazing (in fact the words totes amazeballs  were created to describe her).

This post is two weeks late coming (sorry the start of a second part time job kinda made things crazy busy - in a good way). Anyways this thrifty post is to celebrate my Mumma, just in case the title didn’t give that away!!

I turned 25 last month and because my parents are on a budget Mum made my gifts - she’s amazingly talented and knows I love her work, I tell her frequently she should sell stuff on Etsy.

I got load of things I love, but these are by far my favourites… I promise you she made the lot!!

So there you have it… my Mum is my thrifty, crafty inspiration xx

Thrifty Thursday - Confession Time and Godincidences

So I’ve been racking my brains for the past two weeks for ways in which I’ve been thrifty… the truth is I haven’t! I’ve bought more clothes, books, and mp3s in the last six weeks than I have all year.

I did well at clearly out clothes, books, random junk in preparation for my move but slowly I just replaced it with stuff - and to be honest I’m pretty pissed with myself (I also feel bad for letting the thrifty team down, especially as I’m sat in a top and hoody which are very recent purchases). However what the latter of the two above mentioned purposes have done is get me a bit further on track with my faith - with some well timed breakthroughs. 

If I can request you ignore the clothes matter (but do reprimand me later) for now and we loom at the other two things I will explain a bit as to how these things are helping to make me thrifty(ish).

I went to Spring Harvest last week (if you don’t know what that is, it’s a Christian holiday camp held over Easter in Butlins - it’s surprisingly better than it sounds), it was a last minute thing and I’m so glad I went. I’ve noticed that the past six months have been pretty horrific for a humber of reasons and all the time I’m blamed God, and withdrawn myself from him - just going through the motions at church and with others. A week with a bunch of Christians from all different backgrounds might sound like the worst idea at this point but it was just the kickstart I needed.

I was surrounded by people who truly love God (4000 times over it starts to rub off on you), and a number of them told me how amazing I am with my job - I tend to forget how unique it is. I sang my heart out in the celebrations because I could, and I wanted too and I liked the songs (the latter does help - for me at least, who often forgets it’s for God) and eventually I desperately wanted to get things into my life that would keep me moving forward. This led to some pricey purchases which I do not regret.

First up God on Mute by Pete Greig - it’s raw, and challenging and makes me want to cry a lot but it’s so perfect for where I am and I recommend everyone reads it. Even if you don’t believe in God it’s a wonderful insight into the challenge of silence and unanswered prayer. The second book I got was somewhat cheesily entitled High Heels and Holiness by Jo Saxton, but it’s all about being a modern woman living life like Christ and right now that’s just the advice/guidance I need. The third and most ironic book of all is Retail Therapy by Andy Hickford (by hey the money for the book actually all goes to a project in India) which should help bring me back to a truly thrifty place!!

The mp3s were a bit of a splurge on a whim but put me in a good mood, so everyone wins really (except my bank balance). The worship at Spring Harvest was lead by Mark Beswick and he is amazing (I dug deep to see if I had any Caribbean roots within me - the best I could muster was some bad Dancehall), his whole band you could tell loved worshiping God and it was never a polished performance you had to tunefully go along with. I have a big bugbare with worship at my church for various reasons and so Mark and the band were just what I needed and made me fall in love with this genre of music again (five years ago I would have considered it corny to admit this) so once again my debit card faced the transactions as I downloaded all the tracks I enjoyed and have since repeatedly listened to.

So all in all I’ve not been very thrifty, but I am in a better place with God and because of that things are really falling into place in my life. This is what I call Godincidence!!

It’s Not Easy Being Green

Kermit could not have had it more right… it really isn’t easy being green!

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the changes I’ve made to my beauty regime and a couple of challenges I’ve faced too.

Basically I’ve hit a brick wall on the deodorant front. My crystal deodorant was doing so well until it got freakishly hot for March and then I needed to take it with me a reapply every few hours… knowing the Bicarbonate of Soda option has worked for others I gave it a go and for the first few days I was a convert, but then: DISASTER!!

I suffer from eczema which whenever the weather changes, becomes agonising, which in turn stresses me out making it worse (SUCKS ASS!!) so when you add Bicarb to that it sucks all remaining moisture out and does nasty things to the skin. Yesterday it was so bad I spent the whole day moisturising but when it came for me going out for dinner I wasn’t smelling so fresh (it pains me to say it was pretty bad) but the skin was so raw and tender I couldn’t put on deodorant so off I went and tried to keep my arms clamped by my sides (a great look FYI.. NOT!!)

This morning I made a controversial decision. Eco-no-no-no doesn’t affect my skin so bad and keeps me smelling fresh but all the Eco-yo-yo-yo options leave me stinky and in pain. Today I went into Superdrug and scoured the aisle for deodorant that didn’t contain aluminium or parfum/perfume - turns out they all do but I made my peace with the fact that my underarms would thank me in the short term.

I’m still paranoid about the cancer risks involved and hope that I can find an option that ticks all the right boxes. In the meantime I’m back on the bad stuff. Do you know of an option I could try? Please let me know…

Thrifty Thursday - Inspired

So, yeah, every week we post about a way we’ve been thrifty… but do we pay attention to the other posts? HELL YEAH WE DO!!

Last weekend I started the major spring clean of my life and took three bags of stuff to the charity shop (Sally Army on the Walworth Road - love that place) and resisted buying new stuff to stock up on in the process. I also filled two recycling bags and two bin liners, and I still have some sorting to do.

Anyway after repainting my wall - to cover-up those dastardly blu-tack marks - I decided the table my hi-fi sits on could do with some TLC… the previous owners of it splattered paint on it (not artistically I might add) and left it there. So I decided to try out Aly’s method of covering the top. I didn’t have any fancy wallpaper so used up some wrapping paper and having run out of glue made my own (I feel I should get extra thrifty points for this!!)

This is the final result and I love it…

Thrifty Thursday - Clearing Out and Moving Out

We’ve finally had confirmation from the letting agents (Ludlow Thomson - who are utter sh*te FYI) that we can move out in May. Less than two hours later they’d arranged a viewing for the next day!! I called back and said no, clearly we’d need to get the flat in order before we could have people poking around and measuring up… we’re not messy tenants, but it’s a small flat so we need to get stuff in storage so it will re-let.

This means I have to get ruthless (and not just with the letting agents) and clear out my stuff - it being spring and all it seems fitting. So this weekend the life clearance will start. I’d already started to clear out all beauty products that weren’t Gorgeously Green. Now though I will get rid of the unnecessary paperwork, the cards from people I never read, the clothes I never wear and the broken things I’ve held on to for sentimental reasons.

I am a bit of a horder which when you move a lot is problematic, so this is my chance to start over - put the last 25 years behind me and begin afresh read collect new junk and cherish the truly beautiful and thrifty things in my life…

P.S. You will probably hear me grumbling a lot about this on twitter over the next couple of months! For this I apologise now and give you full permission to tell me to pull myself together…

The Challenge of Being Gorgeously Green

You’d be forgiven for thinking I’d fallen off the Gorgeously Green bandwagon… but I can assure you I haven’t! It’s a surprisingly big overhall (particularly in the beauty department) that takes time and so I thought I’d update you on some of the switches I’ve made and the ones that I’m still finding tricky.

Whilst in the back of my mind I’d always known Vaseline wasn’t exactly the best (it dries your lips out so you have to apply more and more, which in turn replaces the natural oils in your lips so you have to apply it hourly - I knew this before I read that chapter!) but when it was explained how bad Vaseline is I made the switch immediately. I’m now a complete convert to Dr. Organic’s Pomegranate Lip Balm.

I’ve swapped Max Factor mascara for the joys of Dr. Hauschka’s Volumising mascara - not cheap but my eyes don’t feel dried out at the end of the day because the mascara sucked all the moisture out, and there’s no flaky bits either!!

Another switch has been from Benefit’s Get Even to Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation - which amazingly includes SPF 15 in it!! I might go for a slightly darker shade next time - it comes up lighter than you think - but this is a switch I will never regret.

I’ve made various other changes too - mainly to either Dr. Organic or Faith in Nature products, and I have found a couple of good for me things in Lush too - although their tendency to add colour and perfume is always a let down.

Now for the challenges:

The two main challenges I’ve had are deodorant and perfume - I have a bit of an obsession with smelling nice!!

Two very trustworthy people have told me about using Bi-Carb as deodorant, but as a Sweaty Betty I’m too scared that by lunchtime I might pong a bit (read a lot!!) - so I’ve gone for a crystal roll-on that is serving me very well. It’s much more expensive that Bi-Carb (£2.15 for a replacement cartridge vs. 59p for a pot) but I’m not paranoid and forever sniffing my pits.

Perfume however I have failed to find a suitable replacement - if I could make an organic version of D&G 3 L’Impératrice, then believe me I would - by all the options I’ve found smell too strong, or just plain nasty. I’ve been frequently complemented on my nice scent (odd I know, and doesn’t help my obsession) so to give it up is very difficult. Whilst I don’t use it daily, it’s still part of my routine to put it on fairly regularly.

So there you have it - my switches and my challenges… do you have any switches you’ve made? Are you challenged by one product in particular? Do you wanna know a bit more about being Gorgeously Green? Reply, tweet me (@Rachel_Bridge), Facebook me, whatever…

Happy Monday xx

Thrifty Thursday - Mother’s Day

Anytime there is a celebration of my mum - birthdays, mother’s days, Christmases etc… - she asks me to make something, usually her card. So to keep the tradition here is her Mother’s Day Card and the step-by-step instructions on how to make your own:

You will need:

1. A card and backing card - both blank - and an envelope

2. Scrap paper and a pen

3. A scalpel 

4. Wrapping paper/coloured paper

5. Double-sided sticky tape and glue

Step 1: Inspired by Rob Ryan I drew my design on paper and put it onto the card ready to cut.

Step 2: Carefully cut the design into the card.

Step 3: Cover a backing card with coloured paper of your choice and stick to the inside of the card.

Step 4: Finally add your message to the front, write inside and post.

Now there are a lot of amazing Thrifty Ladies who inspire me with their own thrifty posts… they are also amazing mummies and mummies to be, so I also dedicate this card to them. Have a HAPPY MUMMIES DAY!!

Xx

Crème Fraîche Cake Recipe

As promised here is the recipe for my crème fraîche cake…

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